Young Thundering Herd, movie exhibit open

by Matt Haught, The Parthenon, 11/15/06
 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --  With "Ashes to Glory" playing in the background, an exhibit at the College Football Hall of Fame memorializes the 1971 Young Thundering Herd and the movie We Are Marshall.

The exhibit, which will be in place for the next six months, features items from both the filming of "We Are Marshall" and the program itself.

"We felt this was an opportunity for the Hall Of Fame to tell a story of unbelievable proportion," Rick Walls, executive director of the Hall Of Fame, said. "We are all here to tell this story."

The story told is one of loss and success, showing parts of the 1970 crash, 1971 season and later seasons.

A replica of the "We Are Marshall" bronze at Joan C. Edwards Stadium greets visitors to the display.

The exhibit is set up like a locker room, with benches used in the filming of the movie. Lockers lining the wall contain items from each star used in the movie, as well as displays honoring some of Marshall's greats including Chad Pennington, Randy Moss and Byron Leftwich. Displays were also set up for the 1992 and '96 national championships.

Warner Bros. executives approached the Hall's curators about creating the exhibit.

"We have been planning this display for about a month," Walls said. "We had to get on our feet quick to make this thing happen, but the result is a very nice and very fitting tribute to Marshall University and its football program."

The exhibit also contains copies of The Parthenon and The Herald-Dispatch from the time surrounding the crash, including the crash memorial editions of both publications.

Props from the movie, including a rejection letter from the NCAA to a request to allow freshmen to play on the varsity team, as well as clothes worn by the stars, are also on display.

As patrons leave the exhibit, they see monuments to Marshall's later success, including a Motor City Bowl trophy.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
The College Football Hall of Fame is among the nation’s premier sports shrines, preserving the history and ongoing story of college football while promoting an understanding of the positive values of the sport. The Hall of Fame is one of many programs conducted by the National Football Foundation to recognize, preserve and foster values developed through participation in amateur football.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.foot ballfoundation.com